Streaming is a method of data transfer in which a client requests a server to send data at a certain speed. Although data streaming can be used for file transfers, it is particularly useful for the transfer of audio and/or video data.
Live broadcasts of video and/or audio material over the Internet are becoming increasingly popular and common. Such material may include the output of radio and television stations, or video or audio transmissions of one-off events such as concerts, fashion shows and sporting events. In this context, however, the term “broadcast” is in fact used loosely and inaccurately. What in reality happens is that a person wishing to receive such material will make a request to the appropriate website server and a point-to-point connection is made between the server and the source of the request.
The audio and/or video data is then transmitted from the server to the recipient via the point-to-point connection using streaming technology. Streaming is a just-in-time technology that allows the server to transmit to the recipient audio and video data with only a small cache of data being stored in the memory of the recipients computer. A number of streaming technologies are known, including the industry standard real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) and a number of proprietary products such as RealPlayer, Microsoft Windows Media Player, and Apple QuickTime.